News
The global quest to create better treatments and find ways to prevent and cure type 1 diabetes continued to gather pace in 2024. At the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, we kickstarted 10 pioneering research studies across the UK and globally, expanding our portfolio of funded science to 19 projects, involving 161 researchers in 47 institutions across 8 countries, and shared our mission with thousands affected by the condition.
Here, we round-up the highlights of the year.
Science fiction into fact
The Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge is taking the quest to cure type 1 diabetes to a new level by emboldening scientists to be innovative and disruptive, leading to totally new avenues of discovery. That’s why some of the projects funded in 2024 read like sci-fi storylines, from investigating insulin-producing brain cells to copying the immune evasion tactics used by ticks.
This year, we invested over £2 million into four new research projects to tackle the root causes of type 1 and replace the insulin-making beta cells lost in type 1. Four research teams are now hard at work on these innovative ideas, and others.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, said: “These high-risk, high-reward, innovative projects exemplify the transformative potential of the research funded by the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge. By driving forward bold, cutting-edge approaches, we’re stepping closer to revolutionising the way type 1 diabetes is treated and improving the lives of those affected by the condition.”
One of the newly funded researchers, Dr Craig Beall, summed up the ambition: “The moonshot we’re aiming for is a cure that frees people with type 1 diabetes from insulin injections and immunosuppression.”
Innovating insulin
For over a century, type 1 diabetes has been treated with insulin. It’s a life-saving treatment, but it’s also a very blunt instrument, unable adapt to the wide-ranging factors that affect blood glucose levels.
In August 2024, we invested over £2.7 million into six projects to develop ‘smart’ insulins that could transform the treatment of type 1. The six research teams are aiming to create next-generation insulins that can respond to changing blood glucose levels, ultrafast-acting insulins and a combination drug that can both raise and reduce glucose levels.
Rachel Connor, Director of Research Partnerships at Breakthrough T1D, said: “Managing glucose levels with insulin is really tough, and it’s time for science to find ways to lift that burden. By imagining a world where insulins can respond to changing glucose levels in real-time, we hope these six projects will help to create that new reality, relieving people with type 1 of the relentless demands that living with this condition places on them today.”
On tour with the Grand Challenge
People affected by type 1 diabetes are at the heart of the Grand Challenge. It was born out of Steve and Sally Morgan’s family experience of type 1, and we actively involve those living with type 1 diabetes at every stage of the research process — from shaping funding decisions to playing a crucial role in supporting researchers in delivering their projects.
So, in 2024, we took the Grand Challenge into the community, talking to thousands of people who understand the day-to-day struggle of type 1 and the importance of our mission to revolutionise treatments and find cures.
We were delighted to join DiabetesChat’s fifth virtual research event, and to attend the Talking About Diabetes (TAD) event in Liverpool. At TAD 2024, Liam Eaglestone, CEO of the Steve Morgan Foundation, and his son Jack, took to the stage to talk about their experiences of living with type 1. Liam said: “[Diabetes] Technology is great – but it is not a cure. The Grand Challenge is seeking that cure, by bringing together some of the best and brightest brains in the type 1 research community.”
We were joined at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference by seven Young Leaders from the Together Type 1 programme. These inspiring young advocates interviewed Grand Challenge researchers and shared their experiences of living with type 1 with scientists and healthcare professionals. And in November, some of the Grand Challenge team visited Northern Ireland to give the Together Type 1 Young Leaders there an update on the latest research developments.
Young Leader Elisa Featherstone said: “Hearing about this research programme made me consider, for the first time, the reality of not having type 1 diabetes for the rest of my life. A cure may be sooner than we think, and it may well be because of the Grand Challenge!”
Progress through collaboration
Collaboration is key to progress, a principle exemplified at our first Beta Cell and Root Causes symposium held in November 2024. The symposium brought together hundreds of researchers from different strands of the Grand Challenge and people living with type 1 diabetes.
Dr Mirjam Eiswirth, who lives with type 1 diabetes and wrote a summary of the symposium, said: “Personally, I am very excited about the progress we’ll make through these research projects. They have the potential to change the lives of millions of people with type 1 diabetes for the better.”
Simon Heller, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel, said: “We’re moving faster than I thought we would. The willingness of scientists to collaborate shows what can be achieved when we work together.”
At the symposium, the first recipients of Grand Challenge funding, our Senior Research Fellows Professor Sarah Richardson, Dr James Cantley and Dr Victoria Salem, highlighted the remarkable progress their projects have made over the past year. Early career researchers in Dr Cantley’s lab have taken pancreatic cells from mice and regrown them into beta cells – they will now search for drugs that can support this process. Professor Richardson’s team has found that small clusters of beta cells, common in young children, are more vulnerable to the autoimmune attack. Lastly, researchers in Dr Salem’s team is engineering a device that can protect lab-grown beta cells from the immune attack while providing nutrients via a blood supply. We’re excited to track the the trio’s progress in 2025!
Looking ahead with hope
The Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will continue to build momentum in 2025. We’ll begin to see early outcomes from our first projects and will invest in more disruptive and collaborative science.
Building on the conversations sparked at the symposium, we look forward to the Grand Challenge advancing through collaborative working, and we’re excited to continue this progress at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference in February, where Grand Challenge researchers will share ideas and forge new connections.
As Sally and Steve Morgan said: “It’s about doing things differently, it’s about taking risks, but above all it’s about collaboration. Let’s work as a team.”
